ferret100 47 Posted August 6, 2011 Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 and don't give cooked bones Whys that mate? Wondering because ive chucked in the odd chicken thats left over from dinner Cooked bones have a higher tendency to shatter/splinter than raw bones. The problem lies when sharp bone shards damage/perforate the intestines during digestion. Quote Link to post
HUnter_zero 58 Posted August 6, 2011 Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 Ahh right well yeah, I feed them mix of complete, fresh meat, and now and again abit of bread and milk. Think theyll get all the vitamins they need. Cheers I haven't read all the replies as I lost the will to live by the third page but...... Complete food is just that, COMPLETE! You do not need to supplement the diet with anything else however most of us choose to give our ferrets treats such as raw eggs or even some of the vitamin supplements and there is nothing at all wrong with doing that if you so wish. Fresh meat is great for ferrets, it's exactly what nature designed them to live on, but simple stand alone meat will not supply the ferrets all it's dietary needs, as would whole carcass which contains a lot more than just pure meat. Slops, bread and milk could be feed as an occasional treat but not as a main source of food, ferrets fed solely on slops tend to have half the life span of a ferret fed on a balanced and natural diet. Feed too many raw eggs will strip the ferret of essential vitamins as well! Bottom lines are simple, if feeding a complete kibble diet, that's all the ferret will require. Best food if you can tolerate the mess and flies is whole carcass, guts and all. Everything else should be in moderation and as a treat. Stay away from processed foods, such food stuffs contain high salt levels and ferrets have a hard time with heat and dehydration. John Quote Link to post
HUnter_zero 58 Posted August 6, 2011 Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 (edited) Obligate carnivores are incapable of digesting/breaking down cellulose, so peas etc are of no benefit whatsoever. Most carnivores, unless starving will leave the stomach/guts contents, as they next to no nutritional value. Well I'll obligate you by telling you that if you put a whole rabbit in with ferrets that are used to eating whole carcass, they will eat the guts. I have no idea how long you have owned ferrets my little button flower, but I'm guessing not that long and you have a great many things to learn. John Edited August 6, 2011 by HUnter_zero 2 Quote Link to post
Jamie m 668 Posted August 6, 2011 Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 Most carnivores, unless starving will leave the stomach/guts contents, as they next to no nutritional value. Right oh then.. They get very little nutritional value from fur & feather but they eat it. Every time I've ever put a whole prey item in with my ferrets they've eaten the fecking lot, guts, beaks, fur, feather, the fecking lot. Hold on, one minute you are arguing guts contain all the trace elements a ferret needs, if not chuck in a handful of peas, now you're arguing your ferrets eat whole prey? My ferrets and my hybrids eat whole prey too. What is your point? there crosses not hybrids ? Quote Link to post
Kay 3,709 Posted August 6, 2011 Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 As i understand it carnivores rip meat & swallow it because the gut breaks it down & they derive all they need from what they have eaten , i dont think its a case of ferrets not being able to literally digest vegetable matter , it just takes longer for there bodys to deal with it , so an animal fed on a diet of kibble consisting of soya/ vegetable based protein will eat more because the animal's hunger isnt satisfied as quickly as that of a ferret fed on flesh i have certainly found theres a lot less being craped out which i take as a good sign when fed solely on a meat/whole prey diet , again more evident in my dogs I would think in the case of big cats they tear & rip meat , logically i would assume they eat it like this because they want to get it eaten quickly before something else comes along ^ tries to steal it Quote Link to post
Leeview 791 Posted August 6, 2011 Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 . Most carnivores, unless starving will leave the stomach/guts contents, as they next to no nutritional value. Really lions, wolves,hyenas, African hunting dogs and practically all carnivores will eat the guts and contents first for the same reason that a mother(to these animals) will regurgitate food for her offspring because its already partlally digested and conserves the energy used in denaturation of the food i.e the food is absorbed quicker into the body Y.I.S Leeview The survival situation for various carnivores is very different. Hyenas/lions/wolves etc bring down much larger prey than domesticated ferrets, and unlike ferrets, they hunt for survival. The smell of fermenting plant matter in the preys stomach attracts other predators to a kill (with lions and hyenas the young will be nearby, and are under threat from other predator species), so the stomach/intestines are either quickly eaten to help avoid competition over the kill, or the stomach/intestines will be buried to help eliminate the smell carrying. Lions and Hyenas do not reguritate for their young. Wild dog species such as wolves/wild hunting dogs rely on stamina to kill their prey, they usually bring down a kill miles from the pups at the den. Reguritation allows wild dogs to bring food to their young without having to defend a kill. The stomach is only part of the digestive tract, it does not breakdown/absorb all nutrients, hence mastication/saliva/stomach/large and small intestines and the term digestive tract. . Most carnivores, unless starving will leave the stomach/guts contents, as they next to no nutritional value. Really lions, wolves,hyenas, African hunting dogs and practically all carnivores will eat the guts and contents first for the same reason that a mother(to these animals) will regurgitate food for her offspring because its already partlally digested and conserves the energy used in denaturation of the food i.e the food is absorbed quicker into the body Y.I.S Leeview The survival situation for various carnivores is very different. Hyenas/lions/wolves etc bring down much larger prey than domesticated ferrets, and unlike ferrets, they hunt for survival. The smell of fermenting plant matter in the preys stomach attracts other predators to a kill (with lions and hyenas the young will be nearby, and are under threat from other predator species), so the stomach/intestines are either quickly eaten to help avoid competition over the kill, or the stomach/intestines will be buried to help eliminate the smell carrying. Lions and Hyenas do not reguritate for their young. Wild dog species such as wolves/wild hunting dogs rely on stamina to kill their prey, they usually bring down a kill miles from the pups at the den. Reguritation allows wild dogs to bring food to their young without having to defend a kill. The stomach is only part of the digestive tract, it does not breakdown/absorb all nutrients, hence mastication/saliva/stomach/large and small intestines and the term digestive tract. Ferrets,polecats, stoats and weasels bring down much larger prey than themselves in the wild mainly single handedly not in a pack and this is also to survive as they dont have access to stashes of complete "kibble" to fall back on carrying "the stomach and intestine are quickly "eaten to help avoid competition over the kill, or the stomach/intestines will be buried to help eliminate the smell " the lions,wolves, AHD kills I've seen have been free for alls never seen any of them dragging the guts away to bury them their first object is to eat their fill and whats left is when the scavengers move in. 95% of nutrients are absorbed by the digestive tract by the time of defacation or else whats the point of eating something they get no beneficial gain from Y.I.S Leeview Quote Link to post
Malt 379 Posted August 6, 2011 Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 Most carnivores, unless starving will leave the stomach/guts contents, as they next to no nutritional value. Right oh then.. They get very little nutritional value from fur & feather but they eat it. Every time I've ever put a whole prey item in with my ferrets they've eaten the fecking lot, guts, beaks, fur, feather, the fecking lot. Hold on, one minute you are arguing guts contain all the trace elements a ferret needs, if not chuck in a handful of peas, now you're arguing your ferrets eat whole prey? My ferrets and my hybrids eat whole prey too. What is your point? My point is that sometimes I feed whole ungutted rabbits/birds/small mammals, sometimes I feed gutted rabbits & sometimes I feed chicken portions for periods. Therefore there's no need for the vitamin supplements you're telling folk they must feed their ferrets because my ferrets eat what nature intended them to eat. The survival situation for various carnivores is very different. Hyenas/lions/wolves etc bring down much larger prey than domesticated ferrets, and unlike ferrets, they hunt for survival. I don't know about you, but my ferrets certainly eat for survival, so what difference does it make whether or not they have to catch it or not? Quote Link to post
TOMO 26,229 Posted August 6, 2011 Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 only red the last page so forgive me if this has been said,,,, i think carnivors eat from the belly of an animal cos its the easiest to gain entry to the animal,,, also the soft stuff in side is easier and quiker to eat,,, rather than some inbuilt realisation, that there are important nutriants there. i feed hole carcass ,now i can only speak for my ferrets,, but i usualy find the hole of the stomach drying out in some corner discarded,,, and im not convinced they eat the hole intestine,,, what i mean is i think they try as best they can to eat the actual outside, rather than the contents . Quote Link to post
fcuktheban 140 Posted August 6, 2011 Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 When my kits would feed I would come back in the morning to a skull, backbone and leg bones. Sometimes a bit of a smear on the floor but no guts. I have seen them eat it and they didn't complain, some kits would eat it before going for the meat. Quote Link to post
Joe67 239 Posted August 6, 2011 Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 and don't give cooked bones Whys that mate? Wondering because ive chucked in the odd chicken thats left over from dinner Cooked bones have a higher tendency to shatter/splinter than raw bones. The problem lies when sharp bone shards damage/perforate the intestines during digestion. alright thanks Quote Link to post
B.P.R 2,798 Posted August 6, 2011 Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 Brian 911- where have you came from? I've never heard of you. You ask questions and then start to insult the people giving you the answers. How Would you know who was married, single have kids or not? If your ferrets live on saps then so be it but I can vouch that the one is nt single, has kids and bums f**k out of his ferrets. But feeds them well!!!! You must have 911 in your name because you've got it on speed dial everytime you get filled in for being a complete twat. c**ts like you wreck this place Quote Link to post
The one 8,482 Posted August 6, 2011 Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 'Veedublee' timestamp='1312634914' post='2181359'] Brian 911- where have you came from? I've never heard of you. You ask questions and then start to insult the people giving you the answers. How Would you know who was married, single have kids or not? If your ferrets live on saps then so be it but I can vouch that the one is nt single, has kids and bums f**k out of his ferrets. But feeds them well!!!! You must have 911 in your name because you've got it on speed dial everytime you get filled in for being a complete twat. c**ts like you wreck this place Who the FECK woke you up and asked you to chip in ?. And no im not adopting you i will be quicker with the guide dog pup Quote Link to post
Malt 379 Posted August 6, 2011 Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 Who the FECK woke you up and asked you to chip in ?. And no im not adopting you i will be quicker with the guide dog pup be quicker to train a chimp eh? Quote Link to post
The one 8,482 Posted August 6, 2011 Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 'Malt' timestamp='1312645896' post='2181642'] 'The one' timestamp='1312645316' post='2181629'] Who the FECK woke you up and asked you to chip in ?. And no im not adopting you i will be quicker with the guide dog pup be quicker to train a chimp eh? English and a Squaddy you can see the problem but hes good for a laugh Quote Link to post
Malt 379 Posted August 6, 2011 Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 English and a Squaddy you can see the problem but hes good for a laugh Just make sure you're not in the car with him the next time he decides to park in the wrong place @ the supermarket.. Quote Link to post
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